A Brighter Day Awaits
by SpiritFox777
Summary: "Yes, from the moment that I found out that not only was my hearing a lost cause but that my vision was going as well, the anger held inside bubbled over and began to erupt into the outside world." Despite her anger, she enters SAO in hopes that it can let her live the life she wants. With her sister by her side, she faces the death game at an angle that nobody had seen before.
1. A Haunted Past

Anger. It flowed through me unlike any emotion ever had or ever would. I guess it had become as much a part of me as my hands, feet, and hair. I remember a time before the anger, when I was happy and everything was fine, but when the news came, my world shattered.

I tried my best not to let it overcome me and to keep it sealed inside. I didn't want my parents to know just how much all of this was hurting me because I knew it was hurting them, too. After we found out, the descending spiral never ended and the anger was always present. Anger that I couldn't control the way my own body developed, anger at my genes for making me the way I was, and anger at the world and whatever higher being may exist because of who I was becoming.

Yes, from the moment that I found out that not only was my hearing a lost cause but that my vision was going as well, the anger held inside bubbled over and began to erupt into the outside world.

I was never an emotional person, but the anger was one thing with which I felt I could connect. I hated life, I hated myself, but most of all, I hated the adults and scientists of this world. How was it that this far in the future, they still couldn't cure blindness or deafness? Why were the select few cursed to spend the rest of their lives in the deafening silence and endless dark?

* * *

In the early twentieth century, they believed that by the year two thousand, we'd all be flying on hover boards and living in sophisticated, futuristic cities. There was no disease; the world was a perfect utopia. But it's 2022 and the disease-less utopia seems as far off now as it did to the citizens of 1904 because we still have a never-ending deluge of problems—people with AIDs, orphaned children, crime, the flu, people who are deaf, people who are blind—my people—and a plethora of other problems.

Either way, it didn't matter. The main problem was that I was going blind and was already pretty much deaf. I understood that I could be worse off—I could have an immunodeficiency virus or I could have cancer or something more life threatening than deaf-blindness, right. Nevertheless, when I found out about all of this back when I was ten, there was nothing more horrifying than the world of color and sound that I had become so endeared to eventually drifting away into a never-ending silence and a sea of black.

* * *

I withdrew. It was a hard time for my family as well as me. My parents had to go through the thought of their youngest daughter losing her vision and her hearing. When their friends commented on my anger, they defended me with explanations and the rebuttal of "If you were a child losing your vision how would you feel?" but even with all of their support, I drifted away from them and into my own world.

I wasn't insane, not by a longshot, but I wanted to experience the world and thing things I wouldn't be able to do later on while I still could. I spent countless hours on the internet looking at pictures and playing online games. MMORPG games were the best, and I enjoyed them while I still could. I had no interest in touring the world and all that, so I stayed home, studied, and played.

* * *

I eventually culminated from primary school at the top of my class and went on to my years of junior high. I made friends and kept up the cheerful façade while the anger and loneliness boiled inside. I never told my friends about my inevitable future; I was too scared of what they would say and think. I judged their reactions and determined that even if I said something, the matter would be of such little importance that we'd all forget. I felt that if I let go, I would lose myself in the world and forget my goals.

I didn't hang out with my school friends, and, soon enough, I only ever told things to my older sister. She was my best friend and the thought of losing her in any way made my stomach twist in knots and do any number of metaphorical backflips. We were incredibly close.

* * *

I turned fourteen in September of 2022, which was my first year of high school. My parents knew that I was a huge fan of gaming and decided to preorder me a copy of the game coming out that November called Sword Art Online and all the hardware needed. I was extremely excited and the news that I was going to be able to play a VRMMORPG was the best birthday gift my parents could have given me.

In my excitement, I decided that there was no way I wanted to go on my journey through the first virtual reality game alone and spent the money I had saved up from a summer job and the money I got for my birthday on a set of hardware and a copy of SAO for my sister. Even if she was two years older than I was, we were closer than most sets of identical twins; it made my parents happy to see that we were so close.

By this time, four years after the news that I was going blind, my vision was such utter crap that I could hardly see a thing, even with my glasses on and a new prescription in effect. I wanted to begin playing Sword Art Online as soon as possible, before the lights went out, so I could experience it before it was too late. I could only imagine what it would be like to experience the world the way normal people do. I was sick of the never-ending silence and the blurred figures that were now constant in my life. I wanted to live.

Even though I'd been credited with high intelligence, I never imagined the affect the Nerve Gear's power would have on me.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights go to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Studios, and Aniplex USA. No Copyright infringement is intended.**

**On a side note, I hope you all like the beginning. This is just the prologue, so expect the rest to have more to it than this. Please read, and leave a review if you feel like it and have time. This is my first story so constructive criticism is welcome! If anyone wants to beta PM me or leave a review! Also, if anyone want to draw cover art for this, feel free to! I'll give the artist credit! I'll try not to make other author's notes so long, but no promises! Till next time!**


	2. A New Adventure

"Link Start!"

Two words. They are the two words that changed my life forever.

* * *

My sister and I shared a room and our beds were right next to each other, close enough that we could hold hands in a full grasp while on our own beds. We were doing just that the moment we entered the world of Sword Art Online.

A few hours before, we decided that the best way to start this second life was together as the best friends we were. We said the words in unison, and our journey began.

* * *

Pain was the first thing I felt. After a moment of disorientation, I realized that it wasn't actually pain I was experiencing, but a brief pause in my mental functioning as my brain attempted to interpret the signals sent to it through the NerveGear. The second thing I realized was truly spectacular and amazing. I was hearing.

For a few seconds, I was confused. Hearing wasn't something I had experienced in many years. The last time I heard a sound was when the day before my fifth birthday. I remember the sound of my mother's voice as she kissed me goodnight and promised a fun day when I woke up.

* * *

That day was anything but fun. We spent the majority of my fifth birthday in the emergency room with the doctors trying to figure out what was wrong. My hearing had never been perfect, I guess. The doctors had told my mom during one of my earlier physicals that my hearing wasn't what it should have been, but they didn't expect it to get any worse until I was much older, about the time when people normally start to develop a loss of hearing. The suddenness of being deaf soon caught up to my family. They had brought me up learning sign language in case anything ever happened, so I was still able to communicate with them, but Mom kept asking me why I had never told her that I was unable to hear properly and that it was slowly deteriorating. The only answer I could provide was the truth—I was unaware that my condition was anything unordinary.

* * *

With the thought that my brain perceived sound waves again, I noticed the full benefits of being in a virtual reality. The NerveGear sent commands and other information directly to my brain from the game. There was no transmission of hearing data from my ear drums (the source of my deafness as they were unable to pick up sound waves and send them to my brain to be interpreted) to my brain and no transmission from my retinas (the cause of my bad vision) to my brain either. Since the NerveGear was the transmitter, I was able to see and hear perfectly clearly for the first time in years. My joy was overwhelming, and I couldn't wait to tell my sister.

I went through the character creation process. My avatar was the same height as my real body and stood at about five feet and two and a half inches. Other than that, I didn't really care what my avatar looked like and decided to use the randomization tool.

A keyboard appeared in front of me and asked me to select my language and username. Language was easy, but the name required more thought. Names are very important to me, and if Sword Art Online was going to become my second life where I could actually see and hear, I wanted to have a name I knew I would like.

It took me a few minutes, but I finally settled on a name I liked and one I thought my sister would like, too.

"Katsuwa," I entered on the digital keyboard, and with a swirl of color, I entered the world of Sword Art Online.

* * *

I opened my eyes and looked around for my sister. "Sealgair!" I called out. It was the character name she used in nearly every MMO we played together, and I knew she'd be using it here. It's a Gaelic word that roughly translates to "hunter". When I didn't immediately see her, I guessed that she had spawned in a different part of the starting city and journeyed to the area we had agreed upon as our rendezvous point.

When I got there, she was waiting for me in the avatar she had drawn in the real world. She's extremely artistic and had planned out her avatar's looks to all the way down to the length of her fingernails. "Hey, Sealgair! Over here!" I called to her when I saw her. She glanced in my direction and walked toward me.

"Kas…" She began to speak, but I cut her off before she could say my full name from the real world

"I'm Katsuwa here, Sealgair," I said instead.

She grinned. "Katsuwa, huh? I like it." Grinned at her, but before I could give a reply, she froze up.

"What's wrong, Sealgair?" I asked with concern evident in my voice. As soon as the words left my mouth and before she could give an answer, I reached a conclusion.

"You- you're talking. With your voice, not sign language. And…you heard what I was saying. You weren't even looking at the signs and you understood what I was saying. You can hear! Katsu, you can hear!" she shouted with great joy. She hopped around and did a dance. I just smiled and watched her happiness fill me. "If you can hear," she asked me, "can you see perfectly, too?"

Instead of giving an actual reply, I pointed at a shop some meters away. "Elian's Smith, Armory, and Weaponry: Swords, Spears, Shields, Axes, and Everything Else since 302 BCE," I read. The sign's lettering was small and it was far away, but I was still able to read it as if I had the perfect vision I was supposed to have in the real world.

We grinned at each other. "Well then, in celebration of your ability to hear and see again, what say you we go practice?" I took the lead and walked in the general area that would lead us to the fields outside the Town of Beginnings.

* * *

When we reached where the low-level mobs roamed, we both unsheathed our weapons. Sealgair charged at a blue boar that wasn't too far from us. I followed her. She lunged forward, and a blue light covered her one-handed straight sword. This was the power of the Sword Art Online system main frame Cardinal System. Sword Art Online was a fantasy MMORPG that lacked a mage as a playable role, but it more than made up for it with the use of sword skills like the one Sealgair had just performed. The move slant was a one-hit low-level sword skill that performed an accelerated diagonal slash. Her use of the sword skill brought it down to half HP.

"Switch!" she called to me. I jumped in and activated a sword skill of my own, vertical. The activation sequence began; I accelerated faster than I should have been physically capable of, and my sword slammed into the boar. With a cry of pain, the frenzy boar shattered into polygons.

We cheered, and I looked at the EXP I had gained and the loot dropped. There was some Col, the currency in in Sword Art Online's Aincrad, but other than that, the rest was just a bunch of junk that you sell to an NPC for a little cash.

We went after another boar; this time I attacked first and Sealgair finished it so she could get EXP and some Col. We spent the next several hours in the field defeating frenzy boars and gaining several levels. We worked well as a team, and even though we weren't part of the beta testing, we had read various blogs that described gameplay and how to use sword skills, so we were adequately prepared.

* * *

It was around four when we decided to log off, say hello to our parents, and then get some food before going to bed. We swiped our menus open and scrolled down the list. I couldn't find the log out button. Maybe the signals being transmitted to my brain were malfunctioning and weren't displaying the menu correctly, or maybe I was lagging. "Sealgair, I can't see the logout button."

She looked at me. "Nor can I…" She trailed off. "Do you think it's a system malfunction? Maybe the menus aren't displaying correctly."

"Yeah. It could be a bug. This is the first full dive videogame and this is its first day out of beta, so there could be issues. Why don't we ask around and see if anyone else is having trouble logging out," I told her. Maybe we weren't the only ones having problems, but I couldn't shake the sense of foreboding that lingered in the pit of my stomach with the thought that it could be a system problem. As much as I wanted to stay here and enjoy the vibrant colors in the meadow and the wonderful feeling of hearing, I was eager to get back to the real world and get some food.

We wandered the meadow for a while, watching the sunset through the sides of the castle Aincrad. It was beautiful to be able to see things with clear-cut vision again. I could see the individual blades of grass and I could hear the breeze rustle the leaves and dirt. It was perfect, but I still wanted to eat some real food. Virtual reality food just wasn't as satisfying and I was getting hungry.

Eventually, Sealgair and I found two people standing near a body of water. "Sealgair, let's ask them if their having the same problems with their logout button disappearing." Ever the more shy and quiet one; she simply nodded as we walked up to them. I put on my outward mask as I approached. As much as I loved and trusted my sister, all outsiders were considered a threat to both my emotions and physical body until they proved otherwise. I may not be as naturally shy as Sealgair, but I still hated to interact with people. It was a scar from my early days of dealing with my condition.

I studied the pair we were approaching. The red haired man looked like he was freaking out about something while the dark hair one had a thoughtful look on his face. I briefly wondered if they knew each other in real life, but quickly disregarded the thought as unimportant.

"Hey there, you two," I called softly as we approached. I was careful to make sure I looked neither friendly nor hostile. I've always been credited with having a great poker face. Both of them stopped and turned around. The ginger gazed at us curiously while the other looked on with a poker face of his own.

"Hello," the dark haired one said. He sounded a bit annoyed at our appearance but otherwise I could still hear the thoughtful tone of voice from whatever he was pondering earlier. His friend was looking at us with a questioning gaze. Either he was wondering what Sealgair and I wanted, or he was trying to figure out if we were actually girls in real life.

"Um, are you guys, by any chance, experiencing difficulty logging out?" I asked rather bluntly, as was my style. They both lost any hint of distraction they may have had before and looked at us. I assumed the answer was yes; they were having problems and couldn't find the logout button either.

As I predicted, they both nodded in affirmation to my question. "Yeah, actually. The logout button isn't there. I have a pizza being delivered in just a little bit and I can't log out," the redhead replied. I didn't need all that information, but I guess he was just trying to be friendly. Sometimes, people are really annoying.

Sealgair carried on for me while I was distracted, "We've been having the same problem logging out. Do you think it's a system bug or something?"

The black haired person was about to reply, but before he could open his mouth, there was a glowing flash of light, and we disappeared.

* * *

When it faded, Sealgair and I were standing in the middle of the Town of Beginnings with what looked like every other player; including the two strangers we were talking to who stood just behind us.

A system alert message appeared above in the sky as red hexagons covered the area all around the Starting City. Suddenly, a robed figure spawned. Sealgair and I reached for our weapons before realizing that we were in a safe zone and couldn't be attacked. I realized that whatever was in the sky was speaking, and I froze up at the words I heard.

I wanted to believe that I was still back in the real world, still deaf and blind as a bat. I wanted this all to be a bug in the system fresh out of its beta stage. I almost wished that the NerveGear didn't allow me to hear anything, but I couldn't deny the possibility of what I was hearing being the truth. It made shivers run down my spine and made all my muscles tense up.

We were trapped in Sword Art Online. If the robed figure was to be believed and was Kayaba Akihiko, all of the 10,000 players who had logged on the SAO were now trapped. We couldn't escape until we reached the last level of the floating castle Aincrad and beat the game. Also, if someone outside in the real world tried to take of the NerveGear, disconnect us from the server for more than two hours, or in any way try to bring us back, then microwaves in the Gear would be sent out to destroy our brains.

Even with all this terrifying information, there was more. Kayaba gave us even more chilling news and the words resounded in my head like the echoes of a thousand haunted voices. _If you die in the game and your HP drops to zero, you will die in real life_. I wanted to collapse and break down, but I didn't. I knew I had to stand here and absorb the information because it could be useful later, and I knew I was strong enough to stand here like everyone else.

I looked at Sealgair. We had the same haunted looks on our faces. We weren't very close sisters for nothing; I knew what she felt as much as she knew what I felt. Dark expressions crossed our faces, a mix of fear and determination to beat this. Everything we had wanted for so long, the dream to escape into our games and rise to be the best, had been tainted. The sugarcoated life we wanted had been dipped into the bitterest chocolate.

I got my dream, of course. My games were now reality. What more could I ask for; I had my vision and my hearing, everything was perfect, and my simple fantasy was a reality, but there was that catch. Despite all of it, in the face of my fears and my sister's fears, I knew we wouldn't give up. Neither of us would die and let the other's HP drop because we wouldn't be able to stand it if we did. So, we put on a show. We masked our emotions and gave each other a determined look; I turned to Kayaba and listened to what he had to say.

He said he had a last parting gift for everyone in his or her inventories. I checked mine, spawned the item, and found that it was a hand mirror. Before I had the chance to do much else, my body shined in the mirror and when the light faded, the item was gone, but I could tell the effect of the disposable item just by looking around; I knew what had happened. People who had been girls were boys and others who had appeared young teens were now twenty. I looked at Sealgair and saw the face I was so used to seeing every day of my life.

Dark, dirty blonde, almost brown hair cascaded down her back to her hips. Her blue eyes and long eyelashes stared back at me from an ovular but defined face. There were almost no freckles present on her nose or cheeks. My sister had a well-to-do chest that she often complained about in the real world because if this, that, or the other, and I understood how annoying it could be from what she'd told me, but I couldn't deny that I was a little jealous and that boys were always looking at her. She was only and inch taller than my five foot two and two years ahead of me in years, but she looked years older than I did because of her overall physique.

Despite our slightly differing appearance and how I thought she looked older than I did, we were often mistaken for twins. I had hair down to my hips as well, but it was a very slightly darker shade of brown-blonde. Where her eyes were more on the ovular side and were closer to blue-green in color, mine were more circular, wide, and round, and were a mix of green-blue and hazel depending on the lighting. My face was also more circular than hers leading to me looking younger. I was also less endowed in terms of my chest, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.

Even with all the turmoil in the air, I could feel the eyes resting on Sealgair and me from behind us. I spun around, my pin-straight hair whipped out as I did so and hit some people, not that I really cared. I glared at the redhead from earlier who was gaping at Sealgair from the side. I smacked him on the head earning an indignant cry from the man who I realized looked about twenty-three.

"What was that for?" he asked me, irritated.

"Don't you dare stare at her like that! Haven't you heard it's rude?" I scolded. He just stared at me sheepishly and turned to his friend.

"C'mon, Kirito, you gotta back me up here! Even you have to admit she's cute!" he whispered quietly. At first, I bristled when I heard the comment I apparently wasn't supposed to hear, but let it go when I heard the other's reply.

"Shut up, Klein. Even you have to admit you were being rude," the black haired kid said. His real form looked to be about my age. The other grumbled but said nothing, leaving me to my thoughts. I guessed Klein was the redhead's name and Kirito was the other person and filed the information away for later.

Kayaba was pretty much done talking; it wasn't important, mostly just a "good luck don't die" thing. Overall, I was pretty upset over everything, but who wouldn't be.

I turned to Sealgair, and there was an unspoken agreement between us. We both headed out in the direction we knew the next nearest town was. I could practically hear the conversation we would be having right now if we had to speak to understand each other:

"We have to go to the next city."

"Obviously, there are quests we need to complete to get better gear."

"Yes; we have to complete them before others arrive to take them."

"Then what are we waiting for! Let's go."

And then we would speak in unison as we'd say, "There's no way we're gonna die, so let beat this damn game and shove it in Kayaba's stupid face!"

Our exit wasn't dramatic. We walked out, set off at a quick pace, and broke into a run when we reached the fields.

We would travel forever onward until we beat this death game.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights go to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Studios, and Aniplex USA. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Thanks**** for reading. Favorite, Review, and Follow. I hope it's getting more interesting and you like it. Special thanks to The19thRenegade for being the first to follow. Still looking for a beta, so PM me if interested. Constructive criticism welcome. And if you'd like to draw cover art, feel free; I'll give credit! Til next time!**


	3. A Forward Progression

It's been a month. A whole freaking month and nobody has found the boss room yet. From what Sealgair and I remember reading about the beta, they were able to get to floor eight in the two months that they had. We've had a month and we can't find the first floor boss room.

I hate people. Why are we all so incompetent that we are incapable of finding a single room on a floor that is maybe fifty kilometers across? Oh, wait; I forgot to factor in human emotion. In the month that had passed since Sword Art Online's official launch, about a thousand players had died, and more were dying at this moment. Honestly? I think the ones who had died were all idiots.

Seriously, you're in a game where losing your HP means certain death in real life and you still don't have the common sense to grind and level up way past the levels of the mobs you're going to fight? If you aren't going to try then you should die; we're better off without you ruining our plans with your foolish mind. But I digress.

Over the past month, Sealgair and I had spent countless hours grinding and defeating any enemies we could find. I was pretty sure that we were among the strongest players in the game, probably in the top five or ten. After Kayaba had ended his information meeting, Sealgair and I had rushed to the nearest village to plunder so we could get quest items. I ended up with a nice looking dagger while Sealgair had an extremely powerful spear for the level we were at.

My dagger was about a foot long in length with a silver hilt and leather wrapped grip. While the blade was nothing special, the silver on the hilt contained swirls and characters that didn't make any sense to me but looked rather pretty. Aesthetics is half the game, after all. The grip was deep ebony with just the right texture to feel right in my virtual hand. Even though I was in a game where all of my senses are generally back to the human default setting, so to speak, I still had a hyper awareness when it came to touch, smell, and taste. My hands were super sensitive to the type of material I was holding, which became part of my attention to detail.

Sealgair held a spear that she usually held in one of her hands. Interestingly enough, she didn't always use it like a spear and chose to pretend it was a staff. The shaft was made of redwood, and the tip was a simple steel spearhead. Overall, it didn't look like much, but Sealgair was able to take down enemies in just a few blows when she used it with her own unique style.

Even though I preferred the way swords looked to daggers, I was more suited to the latter while Sealgair was definitely a spear wielder. Back when we used to play other MMOs together, she was a heavy damage hitting DPS, and I was usually the healer or controller. I couldn't do damage and didn't like it all that much, preferring to hang back with a range weapon and restore manna and health. With my options rather limited in SAO, the weapon with the longest range was a spear, but when I tried it, I did even less damage than normal and almost succeeded in getting both Sealgair and myself killed.

In the end, my best weapon (and that's used very loosely) was the dagger because of how easy it was to control. I was also pretty quick and good at evading enemy strikes, so the dagger was decent. Sealgair would usually call out a plan of attack because she was always my strategist. I usually hung back and let her do all the heavy hitting. When she was in a bind, we switched, and I took over to do some slow whittling down until she could recover. I was only amongst the strongest players because of Sealgair's hard work in letting me deal the kill shot on half of the enemies we fought.

As such, life in the death game carried on as usual.

* * *

We walked around in the city for a bit before preparing to hunt. It was a cheerful town with plenty of people in the NPC marketplace. I saw shops carrying food, weapons, armor, and all sorts of other things. In all honesty, I thought it was way too cheerful. It was really loud and obnoxious there as well.

Because I'm deaf in the real world, loud sounds and noises tended to annoy me. If this were my real body, my ears would probably hurt with all of commotion. All together and all at once, I heard the NPC chatter and promotions, the conversations a few players were having, the overall noise of life, and the background folk-type music that plays in the background of all MMOs. I was ready to kill someone, and if I wasn't trying to uphold a reputation in the game, I might have attacked the nearby players.

As we walked past a group of such annoying players, Sealgair paused in her tracks. My observational skills kicked in, so I didn't crash into her, but I could tell that she had tensed up. I sent her a glance that conveyed a question I didn't need to speak. She sent back a look that told me to stay where I was and look inconspicuous. After a few moments, she gave a slight nod, and we continued on our way through town.

"Alright, what Intel did you gather from those players?" I demanded when we were out of earshot.

"They said that someone found the boss room; there's going to be a meeting to discuss a strategy to defeat it in one of the nearby towns."

"Do you want to go? If it's close enough, joining in the meeting and boss raid could have some merit for us."

"How about we attend from the shadows for now. Once we hear them out, we can make a decision to join in the fight," she suggested.

"Okay. Let's get going. I'll pull up my map so we can see where the town is." I opened my menu and selected the map option. It was a feature Sealgair and I had discovered a few hours after we left the Starting City; it had come in useful a few time when we got lost while traveling or fighting monsters. "It looks like the city's due southwest of here. If we hurry, we can fight the mobs along the way and gain a few levels before we get to the meeting place."

We turned in the correct direction and headed toward the meeting place. We had a few hours to get there, so it wouldn't be that big of a deal. I knew we'd each gain at least one level by the time we got there because by our standards, if we didn't gain experience, our time was wasted; levels were everything in this reality.

Sealgair and I exited the city limits and began a quick jog out into the fields. It was the equivalent of winter in Aincrad, so it was a bit chilly. Despite the cheerful atmosphere inside the city, the cold and dreary weather put a damper on my mood. In the real world, I couldn't stand the cold. If the temperature got too low, no matter how many layers I put on, I'd start to feel ill. The skies weren't dark or excessively cloudy, but the wintery feel lingered in the air. If we had to speak to anyone politely, we'd be at a loss.

Sealgair was too shy to talk to strangers, so on the occasions we had to engage in activities with others, I always spoke. I hated people, but I knew how to pretend to be polite to get information, but when I get tired or cranky I become very rude and sassy no matter the situation, though anger was a different matter altogether. When I wanted something and I got angry, I always got it.

I breeze blew over the plains, and I shivered. Sealgair sent me an amused look, used to my violent chill attacks during the cold seasons. I could see the smile break through her eyes and her lips began to curve upward. The next thing I knew, she had burst into a fit of giggles and laughter that she would only display when I was the only one around.

I sent her a scowl and death glare. I've been told that my eyes have the power to make grown men shiver. When Sealgair saw the look on my face, her laughter began to taper off, but she started laughing again when I sent a smirk. Apparently, my death glare powers don't apply to Sealgair.

In between her fits of amusement, Sealgair choked out, "I'm sorry. It's just too funny so see you shiver so violently." She started laughing again. "You can't intimidate someone when you're trying to keep yourself from falling over in the cold!" Yeah, yeah, laugh at my pain, suffering, and overall misery.

Eventually, she stopped laughing, and we continued on our merry way. The rest of our journey was more cheerful than before thanks to Sealgair's burst of mirth, and my cloud of misery was washed away. I could never stay mad at her for long.

With the somber mood lifted, we destroyed countless enemies until we spotted our destination. This looked very similar to where we were before. There were the same small houses with white walls and brown thatched roofs. The market place was extremely similar as well. The merchants sold the same goods with the same quality you could expect from and NPC shop.

Overall, I couldn't see any significant difference in this town. How utterly boring. I thought that being in a virtual reality would spice things up, but I forgot that Sword Art Online was configured with artwork and designs that were typical of most MMOs. That is to say, most everything was standardized. Most locations were only different if they were significant to a quest or another event.

I was pulled from my daydreaming and thoughts when Sealgair started talking to me. "Go find an inn for us to stay at for the night. I'm going to go scout out some information on the meeting. We still don't know where exactly it's being held. We'll meet up here at the northern entrance gate in an hour. That should be sufficient for both of our jobs," she ordered. I bowed sarcastically, earning a smile from Sealgair, before I turned to complete my own task. Whatever my strategist commanded, I followed without question. Well mostly, anyway.

If I had information I didn't think she had considered, I would remind her of it, and we'd plan accordingly. I also wasn't afraid to speak my thoughts if one of her plans didn't make sense; I'd tell her if I saw an easier way to complete a task, but her plans were usually the best, and I found it difficult to find flaws in them.

I wandered around for a bit lost in my thoughts. Sealgair was fishing around for information about the boss meeting. I had every confidence in her ability to eavesdrop on others' conversations. She'd been doing it with me for as long as I could remember. It was because of her that I first found out about many of the problems regarding my health.

* * *

When my family first found out about my eyes, they didn't want to tell me right away. Sealgair was the only one I felt I could trust right at that moment. I didn't know what my parents were hiding from me and it made me extremely anxious. They told other family members what was happening to me before they told me.

One time, when my mother was telling her best friend the news, Sealgair waited outside my mother's bedroom door under the guise of being hungry. She had sat there for over an hour jut to gather information to tell me what was going on. When she had come back from the eavesdropping, she had been devastated. When she told me, it was worse. I got upset that my parents were keeping this from me and angry that I was in that situation. She was the only one there to console me. We sat there for a bit leaning on each other for both physical and emotional support. The rest was left to be experienced.

* * *

Regardless of the past, I knew Sealgair was the best at gathering information. I was good at manipulating people into giving me the information. This way, she could listen from the shadows. If we wanted to sell all the information we had gathered, we could probably be the best and richest info brokers in the game, but we didn't see that as a worthwhile endeavor considering neither of us liked people.

I was so lost in my thoughts of the past that I almost didn't see the crowd of people gathered in front of one of the buildings. All types were there from burly axe wielders to slim, agile rapier users. Not wanting to get caught up in the crowd, I stayed back to observe for a bit. Upon closer inspection, the building everyone was in front of was an inn. It was three stories tall and looked like an old medieval night stop. From just looking at all the people gathered, I assumed they were there to check out rooms and further deduced that they were the boss meeting party.

I hummed to myself and marked this location in my mind. I figured I'd check out a room for Sealgair and I when there were less people around. Instead, I walked up to someone who appeared to be waiting.

"Excuse me," I began with a false smile on my face and my brows plastered into a practiced look of confusion. "Are you guys the boss raid group? I've been looking all over the place for the meeting area," I inquired sweetly.

The gruff man looked down at me. "Yeah, we're the clearing party. Why are you looking for us kid? Shouldn't you be with your parents in the Staring City? Did you get lost out here?" he sneered.

Oh? He wanted to play this game? I guess I could go along with it. I was angry enough now that he wouldn't stand a chance against my manipulation.

"Yes, sir," I replied, "My parents said they were going hunting in the fields and to find some strong players if I needed help. They said the players from the clearing group would get them if I needed them. Normally, I'd be fine but they said they'd be back and hour ago and…" I trailed off with false tears in my eyes.

Another member of the clearing group, a man with blue hair said, "Don't worry, kid, we'll help you find your parents. I'm sure their okay, so we'll look for them after our meeting. It's just down the street from here. Hang with us until we can help you."

I mentally smirked at how easy it was to do this. I'd get my revenge on this first guy who sneered at me later. For now, I finish my act. "Okay, mister," I replied like a kid, "I'll stay with you for now!" I pretended to be more cheerful. "I'll be right back, though! I need to get something from my room!"

Before either the blue haired guy or the rude sneering man could reply, I ran into the inn. The crowd had thinned significantly, so I figured now would be as good a time as ever to book a room. Inside was rather bright because of the light filtering through the grimy windows. I could see tables and chairs strewn about the room where people would sit and drink at night prior to retiring. Without further regard for the state of emptiness inside, I walked to the counter.

I put a confident look on my face and stood up straight to make myself look older. Facial expression and posture play a large part in interpretation of age. I quickly ordered a room for the night without any problems and headed upstairs to sort some stuff out.

First order of business was to tell Sealgair what was going on. I opened up the PM menu and selected her name; it was the only one on there. I typed out a quick message about the situation and my plans and told her to meet me at the inn as soon as possible. I also said to pretend she didn't know me and go along with my act.

Once that was done, I fiddled with my inventory a bit. I unequipped my small dagger armor, replacing it with some regular clothing I had from the game start. With my kid costume completed, I went downstairs and back to the clearing group out front. When the blue haired guy saw me, he walked over.

"Hey, kid! I'm Diabel, the leader of the clearing party. I'll help you look for your parents once we're done with the meeting, but what's your name?"

I looked up at the taller man with a shy smile and said cutely, "I can't tell you that! Mommy and Daddy said to never tell anyone my name!"

He stared at me for a moment before smiling. "I don't need your real name, just what people here call you."

Inside, I was scowling deeply enough at the act that it would have scared Diabel if I showed it outwardly. Instead of lashing out for having to play dumb, I said with a stupid fake smile of my own, "Oh…well then I guess that's okay. You can call me Katsuwa…"

Diabel started to say something else, but I decided I had better things to do than listen to him prattle on about this, that, or the other. Sealgair had walked into my line of sight wearing inconspicuous clothes. I sent her a small nod conveying the message to stay in the shadows and follow us if necessary.

Apparently, she had arrived just in time because a couple minutes after she got to the inn, we began to move toward the meeting place. As we walked, I decided that my initial analysis of the city was incorrect. This place was anything but normal compared to the others. The city had appeared much the same as other towns, but this one was much larger than all of the others we had seen. There was a larger housing district that I hadn't seen at first and an extension of the market that most other towns didn't have. The truly interesting aspect that made it different was the open-air amphitheater around the corner from the inn that I hadn't explored in my wanderings.

I assumed this was where the meeting would take place and decided to inspect the area in detail. There were many rows of semicircular stone benches surrounding a raised platform in the middle. The dais wasn't fancy and simply provided a stage for the speaker to stand on. I could see some cracks in the walls surrounding both the benches and dais and a few cracks elsewhere in the structures.

I took a seat at the edge of the top row of benches to stay hidden and away while still being able to hear. Sealgair slipped into the seat next to me in my shadow.

"You sure look like you had fun," she remarked sarcastically. I sent her a playful glare in return.

"Let's just listen to this and decide a course of action," I sighed. We turned our attention to what was being said.

According to Diabel, they had found the boss as we all already knew. It was Illfang the Kobold Lord; the boss had multiple health bars and changed weapons when its final bar entered the red zone. The boss also had minions that would spawn to help defend it. It sounded easy enough.

We spent the next few hours at the meeting listening to Diabel and the others discuss strategy. I spaced out for most of it considering it wasn't a very good one. Something about having a two-man squad hold off the minions while everyone else switched between attacking and holding off the boss. Even I knew that the plan would result in at least one death. When Diabel finished describing the plan, I looked sideways at Sealgair.

She had a look of annoyance plastered on her flawless face. I could tell she didn't approve of the plan. I signaled for her to stand up and tell everyone her strategy, but being the shy person she is, she didn't move and simply glared at the gathered players.

There was a slight hiccup at some point after everyone grouped up. Some guy named Kibaou, who I recognized as the sneering man from earlier, had tried to say that the beta testers were to be blamed for the 2000 players who had died so far in Aincrad. When he stood up announcing this, I heard a sigh sound next to me. I looked over at Sealgair and gave a barely noticeable smirk, mostly because of my own amusement at what was to come. Time for us to get our revenge on the ass who thought I was some whining kid.

Sealgair was already annoyed at how terrible the plan was, but this stupid Kibaou guy sent her over the edge. Sealgair stood up and walked out of the shadow we were hiding in so the crowd would see her.

"Listen up, dipshits! I don't have time for your whining and bickering. If you're just going to waste my time with your BS plans and foolish accusations, I'll leave this meeting right now and go kill the boss myself. Shut your mouth about the beta testers. Without them, most of the players that are still alive would have been killed a long time ago. Just because you're too jealous and selfish to realize that we need their help doesn't mean you can yell at them as if they aren't human beings trapped in the same situation we are!"

I almost gave a standing ovation at her speech but restrained myself so I wouldn't be noticed. Sealgair came to sit back down while another guy explained how the beta-testers had helped the other players. When Sealgair was seated next to me again, I let out a quiet laugh at her blushing face. I didn't have to talk to her to know that she was embarrassed because of all the people she had stood up in front of. I was amused at her discomfort.

"Little Devil," she said, "just laugh at my pain, why don'cha!" Her teasing jab made me laugh harder.

We were brought back to the meeting by someone addressing Sealgair. The same person had told Kibaou about how helpful beat-testers were. "What did you mean earlier when you said our plan was foolish?" he asked her politely.

She looked at me with a silent plea for help. I let out a small breath and stood. When everyone could see me, I began to recite what Sealgair had told me earlier. "The first problem is the defense strategy. Currently, it is set up so that only a few player will attack the ads while everyone else will do damage to the main boss. While this could work, it's highly likely that it will result in a death somewhere. The best course of action would be to have a line of defense. We need a few players who can tank the boss and ads while everyone else focuses on damage. If we have one tank hold agro on the Ruin Kobold Sentinels and another two on the boss, it should be enough to keep both groups from dealing too much damage to the dps. From there, we can observe the attack patterns to figure out the least dangerous attack plan. Our offense will be a lot safer if we have a god defense."

Everyone stared for a moment before I began to see nods of consent and understanding. Anyone who had played an MMO knew that when you're in a raid fighting a boss, the most important part is keeping the damagers alive enough to deal damage. Usually, there's a healer to help with that, but SAO doesn't have healers or controllers; we have to rely on the tanks' ability to defend the attackers.

After my brief strategy speech, I sat back down with Sealgair. I really hadn't wanted to get involved in the meeting, but life happens, I guess. There were a few more hours of organizing now that we had proposed the basics for a new plan. Most people were regrouping together as either tanking or dpsing groups while others stayed mixed, most likely, because they were IRL friends. For the most part, Sealgair and I stepped back and let the others do their thing. We were going to do what we normally did in mob fights. She'd deal the heavy damage while I covered her.

The meeting finally ended with the clearing party agreeing to meet back at the same place the next morning at 10.00. Sealgair and used the shadows to stay hidden and maneuver back to the inn. I wanted to avoid questions about why I had pretended to be a little girl with lost parents. When we got back, I immediately took Sealgair up to our room and sat on the bed.

It was a rather shoddy room with only a musty looking double bed in the middle. There was a small table with two chairs in the corner, but both looked so rickety and old that I thought they would break if either of us sat on one. The lightwood of the table was worn with some water damage and other signs of years of wear-and-tear, and a small layer of virtual dust was settled on it. The bed looked okay, but gave off a dirty feeling. Thankfully, we couldn't really get dirty or anything in the virtual world, so I didn't have to worry about the room being unsanitary; it was just uncomfortably dark and shady.

"That was rather eventful," I suddenly remarked. Sealgair just stared at me, blinked slowly a couple of times, and let out an exasperated noise. I could tell that she wasn't annoyed or angry, just really tired. After a while, I gave up on getting a response and bid her goodnight, climbing into bed.

Even with everything that had happened, I couldn't sleep. I lied there for a while, pretending, until my sister finally succumbed to her tiredness. There were so many things running through my mind at that point that I knew I'd never get the rest I'd need for the next day. Instead, I became a slave to my never-ending thoughts.

The most prominent in my mind was the future. After a month, we were so close to finally defeating the first boss and proceeding through the floors of Aincrad. After we defeated Illfang, the clearing party would continue fighting their way up the castle until they reached floor 100 and the final boss. From there, we'd be set free back into the real world, and we'd all go back to our boring lives, despite the mental and emotional scars the game would leave on us for the rest of our lives.

Of course, all of this was assuming that we didn't all die and a large amount of us made it to the top to defeat the boss. Even with all the problems that could arise in this life and death game, there was still a chance that the survivors could one day wake up back in the real world and see their friends and family again.

But was it worth it?

In the month that we had been trapped in Sword Art Online, Sealgair and I had done so much. We were able to travel the castle and explore for ourselves for the first time in our lives. In our world of swords and monsters, we could lean on each other for support and nobody would judge us or call us weak for wanting to cling to a loved one. Even if I disregarded the adventures we had been on, there was another huge factor in my decision to leave Aincrad or stay in the virtual reality forever.

After many years of suffering from deafness and vision impairment, I could finally hear and see like a normal person. Obviously, none of the senses could be recreated exactly the way they were in the real world, but it was good enough for me.

My first hours in Aincrad, I was on a joyous high. I could hear the wind blowing across the earth, see the way the grass swayed and distorted as I walked. For the first time in nine years, I could hear my sister's voice. Even more shocking was hearing my own voice. I had forgotten how it felt to speak with your voice; I had even spent quite a while remembering how to make certain sounds I hadn't used in so long, and the saddest was that I had forgotten how my own voice sounded. The soft lilts as I gently gave my sister a loving remark, the harsh tones of anger I often carried, and the sassy sarcasm that you couldn't show with sign language. I had missed it all so much and hadn't realized it until I experienced it in Aincrad.

Sitting in the bed after a month in this wonderful world of sight and sound, I wasn't sure if I could return to the harsh reality of my life. Now that I knew this ability was practically at my fingertips, I wasn't sure I'd be able to leave it all behind.

A month can really change a person, and with practice, I had become extremely observant. My curiosity to remember how some things look caused me to give a particular attention to detail. I learned what materials different weapons and armor were made of and paid close attention to mobs and what they were wearing. This information was my contribution to Sealgair's plans. I told her what everything was made of, and she told me how to counter it.

With all my doubts, it was no wonder I didn't sleep that night. It's my own fault that I didn't tell my brain to shut up and let me sleep. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do then. My future was a long and complicated one because of the death game, so I had time to decide whether I truly wanted to leave Aincrad.

I knew I would cross that bridge when I got to it, as was my policy. At that moment, my focus was the next day's boss fight.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sword Art Online. All rights go to Reki Kawahara, A-1 Studios, and Aniplex USA. No copyright infringement is intended.**

**Sorry it took a bit for this chapter. I had some problems writing it, and I'm still not sure it's the best it can be. I've also been trying to make it a little longer and work with some other suggestions I was given.**

******Special thanks to The19thRenegade, SliverKitsuneGrlAngel, and rosette-rose for reviewing. Also thanks to those who favorited and followed. **

**Thanks**** for reading. Favorite, Review, and Follow. I hope it's getting more interesting and you like it. I know I used gaming terms, etc. in here, so if you are unfamiliar with their meaning, send me a PM or leave a review and I'll clear things up, or you can look for it online. This is also where things are going to start going AU, so I hope you like what I do with the story! Suggestions are also welcome since I'm kinda writing this while I go. I'll try to incorporate your ideas while keeping the story on track. Still looking for a beta, so PM me if interested. Constructive criticism welcome. And if you'd like to draw cover art, feel free; I'll give credit! Til next time!**


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